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Miscarriage/pregnancy loss

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Waiting for miscarriage - lots of questions

7 replies

LauraInGuildford · 13/04/2011 04:42

I am/was around 9 weeks pregnant when I got some spotting which turned to bleeding and a trip to A&E. Had a scan yesterday and there is a 6 week sac but no baby or heartbeat. There is no way I am that far out with my dates as I got a positive pregnancy test on the 2nd march. I now need to wait for a scan to confirm it isn't growing.

Once I get to next week I think I definitely want to have the operation to get rid of it so I can move on. In the meantime I could miscarry and it is sort of scaring me from a practical point of view as I don't want to be at work or out if it will suddenly hit me.

Will I get warning that I am going to miscarry naturally? If I did wait to miscarry naturally how long could I have to wait for? (I think the baby/embryo died around 3 weeks ago but it is still holding on.)

Also, did people go into work during this period? Not sure I can take that much time off but not sure that I could deal with a miscarriage starting at work especially since I have a long drive to and from work. I am taking tomorrow off sick but I will try and do a bit of work as I feel guilty taking time off sick when I am not sick as such but at the same time not sure I could do my job at the moment.

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barbie1 · 13/04/2011 05:17

Hi laura sorry you are going through this..

My story was much the same, went for 12 week scan and was told it was a mmc Sad, although i did have a good idea that the pregnancy wasnt going to last due to bleeding, cramping etc from week 7.

I decided to try to miscarry naturally with no medical invention, went home and waited...and waited. Even went back to work Blush, in the end i realized i was in no fit state to work so got sent home to wait further. Three days after the scan i did start cramping and losing a little blood but nothing else. After a week on tenderhooks i went back to the hospital who then told me i would need medical management.

As for taking work off sick, you might feel ok physically but beware that you might have a hormone crash in a few days time Sad

Hear to talk if you have more questions

TiggieWiggle · 13/04/2011 05:20

So sorry Laura Sad Sad what a terrible time for you.

I had a similar experience and will tell you honestly what happened. I was waiting to go back for a scan on the Monday but on the Saturday night my bleeding got heavier (like the worst day of my period) and the pain started to get bad. I had about half an hour where the pain was really bad and was doubled over. It was like contractions in labour and each time I passed something I felt a bit better. I then had period-like cramps and went to bed for most of the next day. The bleeding was heavy and I got through lots of pads. I went to the hospital on the Monday and they gave me tablets to calm the bleeding down and strong painkillers which helped. They scanned me to make sure that everything had gone.

After I began to feel better physically I could deal with the emotional stuff. I was far more upset than I thought I would be and didn't really let myself grieve properly. Try to be kind to yourself and get lots of support from family and friends. I still felt sad when everyone else had forgotten about it and this was hard (on the due date and anniversary of the miscarriage). I am not really a very emotional person so this surprised me a bit.

Tell your boss at work what has happened and take time off if you need it.

On a positive note, I am currently 32 weeks pregnant again right now. I didn't think it would happen for us but after various investigations at the hospital for recurrent miscarriage they found no clear reason for the miscarriages and gave us the go-ahead. This time I was scanned every 2 weeks through the first trimester and they have kept a really close eye on me which has helped.

freelancegirl · 13/04/2011 08:47

Hi Laura, so sorry to hear that :( I am sure I have seen you on another thread so not sure where that was. I had a mc which started on 19th March. It can go on for a while, bleeding lasted two weeks with me and like tiggle says it can hit you harder emotionally than you expect.

It's like all grieving processes though, there are up and down moments and even times when you can laugh and be positive.

Physically I started with spotting and cramps which led to bleeding and labour-like contractions like tiggle too. They were awful, every three minutes or so. BUT not everyone gets the contractions and my sac and foetus were still intact and needing to be 'passed' so maybe that makes a difference. I was 12 weeks but the baby had died around 7, which I found out a couple of days later at the scan.

Passing the sac was a weird experience. i think like a lot of people who go into the labour proper I also felt like I need the loo at the same time. Not to go into too much detail but it all came out at once - so got flushed. I felt a funny pop as it came out but no more pain and by that time all the cramping had gone too. I bed for a further 9 days or so.

A scan revealed there is still a small clot to come out but the reckon it might emerge with my last period.

I am lucky as I work from home so I was able to lie around, take it easy and do whatever I wanted to. Physically, after the initial two days pain, I think I could have managed being at work using sanitary towels and emotionally it might have helped take my mind off it. But be mindful of the fact that you are going to be emotional fragile and also might feel a bit tired and dizzy (I did) so you might want to mention to the powers that be you are not very well.

Like Barbie says, we are here to talk if you have any more questions and there are plenty of other threads with people going through/having gone through the same thing where we all chat about the lows (and occasional highs) we are experiencing.

Goodluckbear · 13/04/2011 09:39

Hi Laura,

So sorry you are going through this. I had a similar mc over a year ago now, I had some bleeding at 9 weeks and the scan showed the sac was only measuring 6 weeks. I had to have another scan a week later to confirm (although, like you, I knew that I should have been 9 weeks as I was certain of my dates). I was bleeding like having a period all that week. I booked in for the ERPC as I just wanted to move on, but the night before I started bleeding heavily and passed lots of clots. It is manageable - you will probably want to just sit on the toilet though - I guess the heaviest part lasted a couple of hours. If this happens for you, just make sure someone is with you in case you start feeling ill - if you are worried at all or if it hurts too much do go to the hospital.

I still had the sac remaining, so I had the ERPC anyway the next day, and this was fine - it is under general anaesthetic, and is done in 10mins, you go home the same day. Let me know if you want more details on this.

Really sorry you are going through this and feel free to vent on MN, I know I did!! That all happened to me in Jan last year - I now have a 4mth old baby boy, not sure if that helps at all.

Thinking of you.
xxx

Goodluckbear · 13/04/2011 09:40

P.S. Do take time off work if you need to, it is like being sick so don't feel guilty or anything. I worked from home mostly, but at the time it was very snowy so I used that as an excuse. I told my boss and he was very understanding, his wife had been through the same.

xxx

dooscooby · 13/04/2011 11:44

Really sorry you are going through this. I had a similar mmc in Dec/jan. Went for a private scan at 8 wks as I'd had a m/c previously. It was only measuring 6wks, no hb or fetal pole. I had to wait 10 miserable days to confirm the mmc at the second scan. By this time I was 9.5w and it was 23rd dec so I decided I just wanted to let nature take it's course. I started with pain and gurgling about 10.5 wks then passed (tmi-sorry) what looked like a load of liver in the motorway services just after Xmas. I was given codrydamol by the epu for the pain so that really helped and I had about 2 days of bad period pain/strong cramping. I then bled for 4 wks after that.

Similar to freelance, I had a small amount of tissue left on my cervix which I eventually passed but I had to go back for s few more scans to check it was gone.

If you do get/take strong painkillers then be aware that some can give you really bad constipation. Noone told me this and on NYE I ended up in incredible pain from that too. Altogether it wad a horrid festive period.

Thinking of you, whatever you choose to do x x

LauraInGuildford · 13/04/2011 16:21

Hello.

Thanks for all your stories and experiences. It was also good to hear that some of you have gone on to have sucessful pregnancies. (I am clinging on to the fact that even though there were problems the little bean still wanted to stick around!) Whilst it was upsetting and scary to read, I think it helped to know what to expect as the fear or what is going to happen is almost as bad as the emotional bit of loosing the baby.

Had a bit of madness earlier but think I may have trigged the miscarriage by going on a really long hard run. I have cut down on my running whilst pregnant and so thought that a long hard run would firstly make me feel better but also hopefully trigger a natural miscarriage. It really helped raise my spirit and so far I have started bleeding a little and it feels a bit like period pains - keeping my fingers crossed that I will miscarry soon so that I can start getting over it all. (Never thought I would ever type something like that.)

Thank you all again. x x

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